Bulb feeder for sealing-in machines



-Dec. 2, 1930. v r w. w. LOEBE ET AL 1,783,806

BULB FEEDER FOR SEALING-IN MACHINES Filed Oct. 1, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet l 5 Inventors: Walther l .oebe, Willg .Ledig, I v Heinrich AsTnussen,

Them Atto-r neg.

Dec. 2, 1930. w. w. LOEBE ET AL 1,783,806

BULB FEEDER FOR SEALING-IN MACHINES Filed Oct. 1, 1928 3 Sheets-Shet 2 Fig. 2.

Inventor's: Walther Loebe, Willg Ledig, Hei 1-ioh.AsTnusse'n, bg' 0% Their Attorneu Patented Dec. 2, I930 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE' WALTHER-WINFRIED LOEBE, OF WAIDMANNSLUST, BERLIN, WILLY LEDIG, BERLIN,

AND HEINRICH ASMIISEN, OF CHARLOTTENBURG, BERLIN, GERMANY, ASSIGNORS TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A. CORPORATION OF NEW YORK BULB FEEDELR, FOR SEALING-IN MACHINES Application filed October 1, 1928, Serial No. 309,479, and in Germany November 28, 192?.

The invention relates to bulb feeders for sealing-in machines for sealing the mounts into the bulbs of electric incandescent lamps and similar devices. The principal object of 8 this invention is to provide an automatic bulb feeder which will supply bulbs to the sealing-in machine and is of simple-construction and requires but little floor space; To this end, and in accordance with the inven- 10 tion, a vertically movable bulb lifter is arranged above a bulb carrying tray filled with bulbs arranged in rows, the bulb lifter being devised to pick up part or all of a row of bulbs from the bulb-carrying tray and then rise to its feeding position in which it delivers the row' ofbulbs to a bulb chute adjoining the sealing-in machine and provided with a bulb delivery device for delivering the bulbs one by one to the sealing-in, machine. The bulb lifter may move vertically in such a way that when it is in its raised or feeding position it forms an extension of the inclined bulb chute. As a "result the bulbs caught by the bulb lifter on. its downward movement slide from the bulb lifter onto the chute by their own weight when the bulb lifter is in its raised position, and from the chute the bulbs are fed into the sealing-in machine one byone. I

An especially good utilization of space in storing a large supply of bulbs, together with a handy arrangement of the bulbs which are being fed, is attained if a number of bulbcarrying trays, such as the bulb trays commonly used in the incandescent lamp industry-and having parallel rows of bulb receiving holes, are stacked above one another between vertically movable chain conveyors that form parts of a tray holder and are driven intermittently. In this way the supply of bulbs occupies but little'fioor space, as the bulb trays stacked in tiers above one an-' other form a prismatic column. When the chain conveyors are moved intermittently the trays are moved upward step by step. Whenever the upper bulb tray is emptied of bulbs 4 and removed the next bulb tray replaces it and comes into the working position.

' 1 The bulb lifter for removing-the rows of bulbs from the upper bulb tray may be so mounted that it will lift an entire longitudinal row of bulbs at one time and also lift those rows in succession from the uppermost bulb tray in the tray holder. Whenever all the bulbs in one longitudinal row of the bulb tray have been delivered to the sealing-in machine, the uppermost bulb tray which is in the working position is displaced sidewise a distance equal to the distance between the rows of bulbs to bring the next row of bulbs into registr with the bulb lifter, so that it may catch t e bulbs in the next longitudinal row of the bulb tray the next time it moves Figure 3a view in perspective of the principal parts of the machine; Figure 4 a top viewof one of the heads of the sealing-in machine on an enlarged scale, and Figure 5 a cross section through the bulb lifter along line C-D of Figure 1.

To hold each bulb tray horizontal and to hold a number of trays in a stack or in tiers. there is provided a tray holder comprising arectangular frame 1 having two endless conveyors on its opposite vertical sldes,v each conveyor comprising two endless chalns mounted side by side and running over a pair of upper sprockets 3 mounted on a common shaft 4 and over a pair of lower sprockets 3 similarly mounted on another common shaft 4. The chain conveyor located on each side of the stand or tray holder is a unit and has crossbars 5 ofangle iron set to project and form supports for the bulb trays. After the bulb trays, preferably those commonly used in the incandescent lamp industry are provided with arallel rows of holes, are filled with bulbs they are placed between the two conveyors, the inwardly projecting lifts or cross-bars 5 of the two conveyors facing one another and supporting the ends oi the bulb trays. The space between the two chain conveyors and hence the inside of the tray frame 1 is filled in this manner with a number of bulb trays placed one above the other vertically to form a stack of bulb trays filled with bulbs. In the illustrated example, each bulb tray, which may to advantage be made of woven wire, will hold 50 bulbs armarily as a mounting for the gearing which effects the individual feeding of bulbs from the chute to the sealing-in machine.

The lifting of the bulb trays 6 in the tray holder 1, the transverse displacement of the bulb rack which is in the uppermost position at any one time, the raising of the bulb lifter,

and the individual feeding of bulbs to the ranged in five parallel rows of ten bulbs each. sealing-in machine, are all controlled in defi- As soon as the bulb tray in the uppermost position inthe tray holder is emptied of bulbs, the chain conveyors 2 may be moved one step to move the loaded bulb trays within the frame 1 upward, somewhat like dredger buckets, to bring the next bulb tray into the uppermost position.

Above the stack of bulbs is a vertically movable bulb lifter comprising a rod 8 hinged atone end to a bracket 9 on the frame 1 in such a way that it can swing vertically on its pivot. On this rod 8 are pivoted two pairs of fingers 10 to swing in parallel planes transverse to said rod 8, and normally closed by a spring 10' (Figure 5), the free ends of the corresponding fingers of these two pairs being joined and interconnected by clamp rods 11 which lie parallel to each other and grip one row of bulbs in the upper bulb tray 6 and enclose this row of bulbs between them as the bulb lifter moves down over the bulbs. The distance between the clamp rods 11 of the bulb lifter can be regulated by an adjusting screw 12 (Fig. 5) and thereby adjusted to the diameter at the neck of the bulbs which are in use.

In order to have a row of bulbs in the uppermost bulb tray 6 ready to be picked up every time the bulb lifter comes down the bulb tray is shifted transversely to an extent corresponding to the spacing between each row of bulbs every time the bulb lifter moves upward. This shifting may be brought about by an oscillating tray shifting member, such as a bell crank lever 13 mountedto oscillate or swing in the direction of this shifting-and having on its end a catch 14 which engages the tray to be shifted and is normally held in latching position by weights.

In the raised or feeding position of the bulb lifter as shown in Fig. 1 the clamp rods 11 substantially align with and form an extension of-an inclined 'bulb chute 15, consisting of two parallel rails so inclined that bulbs 7 lifted up high by'the bulb lifter'will slide down along the chute 15 by their own weight. The upper end of the chute 15 is secured to posts 16 on the tray holder frame 1, while its lower end projects over and is secured to the stationary frame 19 of a rotatable sealing-in machine 17 of the conventional type. For convenience the lower end of the chute 15 may be fastened to a gear box 18 supported on an arm 20 extending from the frame 19 of the sealing-in machine and serving prinite time relation by a common actuating mechanism, which is preferably pneumatic or hydraulic mechanism. In the illustrated on it a rigid actuating arm 26 with one end.

connected to the rod 24 and its free end controlled by a spring 27, and a rocking beam 28 rigidly fastened on the shaft 25 and having two projections or fingers 29 whichextend downwards into the chute and are spaced apart a distance greater than the diameter of one bulb but less than twice that diameter, so only one bulb at a time can be between the fingers. As the beam 28 is rocked in a plane parallel to the longitudinal axis of the chute 15 the fingers separate the bulb that happens to be the lowest of the row of bulbs in the chute 15 from the remainder of the row and permit it to pass out of the chute while holding back the other bulbs. An extension 30 of the rocking beam 28 is connected to the fork-shaped end 31 of a lever 33 pivoted on a projecting arm 32 of the gear box 18. The free end of this lever 33 supports a pusher 35 guided in an eye 34 on the arm 32 and on its lower end is a shoe 36 which cooperates with that particular head 37 of the example the actuating mechanism is pneusealing-in machine 17 which is in position for receiving bulbs.

The heads are evenly spaced on the'intera fixed semi-circular ring 39 with three lugs 40 on which the body of the bulb in the head rests. To hold securely during the rotation of the sealing-in machine 17 the bulb transferred to the head the semi-circular ring 39 has journaled on it two small rotatable rods 41, each having on its front end a clamping jaw 42. On the rear ends of these rods 41 are two levers 43 joined by a pin 44 on which the shoe 36 of pusher 35 acts on its downward movement. Weights 45 on the outer ends of the levers 43 cause the clamping jaws vacuum causing the piston in the cylinder.

42 to move inwards against or to close upon the neck of the bulb 7 in the holder. The pusher and associated parts constitute a clamp opening means controlled by the bulb delivery device, since as thepusher 35 moves downward the clamping jaws are positively opened so that a bulb may easily drop into the holder. As the pusher 35 moves upward the weights 45 close the clamping jaws 42 upon the neck of the-bulb that has dropped 3 ito the holder.

The bulb delivery is controlled by a valve 46 in the Vacuum line 22, whichafter each step of the intermittent rotation of the sealing-in machine 17 and as the sealing-in machine comes to rest, is opened by acam 47 controlled by the drive of the machine, the

23. and its piston rod 24 to move downward and swing the rocking beam 28 so that its front finger nearest the sealing-in machine is lifted'and its rear finger is lowered.

j That bulb of the long row of bulbs on the chute 15 which has been the lowermost and has been resting against the front finger 29 is now free and can slide off the lower end of chute 15 to the sealing-in machine 17 and directly into the head 37 that is in position, but the remaining bulbs on the chute 15 cannot slide down, as they are held by the lowered rear finger 29 on rocking beam 28. Simultaneously with the swing of the rocking beam the pusher 35 has moved downward and opened the clamping jaws 42 of the head 37, so that the bulb which is released by the rocking beam 28 can readily fall into place in the rigid semi-circular ring 39 and between the open clamping jaws 42 of the head 37. Shortly afterwards, and while the.

sealing-in machine 17 is still stationary, the valve 46 is closed and the piston rod 24 is drawn back to its initial position by the spring 27. The rocking beam 28 likewise swings back into its initial position, and in so doing its front finger 29 goes down and its rear finger 29 goes up. The bulbs on the chute 15 are no longer held by the rear finger 29 and the entire row slides forward a distance corresponding to the width of one bulb, until they'strike the front finger.

29 of rocking beam 28. As the piston rod 24 and rocking beam 25 return to their initial positions the pusher 35 also returns to its raised position, its shoe 36 releasing the weight controlled levers 43 which clamp the bulb that has fallen into the holder between the jaws 42 and also moving up a little away from the pin 44 so as to be out of the path of the loaded head 37 during the next step of the sealing-in machine. p

The tray shifting mechanism and the bulb lifter are actuated by driving mechanism which moves them in timed relation and preferably alternately to enable the bulb lifter to pick up the rows of bulbs in succession. erably of the pressure actuated or pneumatic type, and is controlled by a control mechanism comprising a cam shaft 48 mounted on the gear box 18 and having keyed to it a ratchet wheel 49. By a on the piston rod 24 of the bulb delivery device the ratchet wheel 49 ismoved ahead one tooth every time the piston rod 24 descends during a cycle of movement of the bulb lifter, and is locked by a pawl 51 during the periods between descending strokes of the piston rod. The number of teeth on the ratchet wheel 49 corresponds to the number of bulbs in one longitudinal row of the bulb tray, and in the example shown in the drawings the ratchet wheel has 10 teeth. Two cams 52 and 53 (Fig. 3) are-mounted on the cam shaft 48 and are angularly displacedrelatively to each other. The cam 52 controls the tray shifting mechanism through a valve '54 in a vacuum line 55 which leads to a cylinder 59 with a piston whose rod 60 is connected to the tray shifting lever 13, which carries the tray engaging latch 14, and the other cam 53 controls the bulb lifter mechanism through a valve 56 in a second vacuum line 57. Both valves 54 and 56 control the connections to the vacuum pump 21 through a common supply line 58. p

Each cam comes into its active posltlon once for each complete rotation of the ratchet pawl 50 mounted The driving mechanism is pref- I wheel 49 and cam 52. establishes the connecti-on to shift a tray sidewise. The book 14,

held in mesh with theupper bulb tray 6 by "the weight on its free end, now pulls this bulb tray sidewise a distance corresponding to the distance between two longitudinal rows of bulbs. The movement of the tray shifting lever 13 is limited by a fixed'block 61 positioned on thetray stand 1 to throw the hook 14 out of engagement with the bulb tray that has been displaced sidewise. As the" cam shaft 48 continues to rotate, the cam 52 releases the valve 54, which closes, whereupon the piston rod 60 of cylinder 59 is moved back into its raised position by the spring 62. In so moving back it'swings the tray shifting lever 13 in the reverse direction, the weighted hook 14 catching the tray 6 at a point corresponding to the next row of bulbs, and the tray shifting mechanism is again ready to pull the upper bulb tray. sidewise the distance between two rows of holes.

After a few more steps of the ratchet wheel 49 the valve 56 is openedby the cam 53 (Fig;

3) and thus the vacuum line 57 to the cylinder 63 is placed under vacuum to actuate the bulb lifter. To the rod 64 of the cylinder 63 is connected a cable 65 which passes over two pulleys 66 and 67 on the tray stand 1, and which is attached to the free end of the rod 8 of the bulb lifter. The pulley 67 is mountin registry with the bulb lifter are between the clamp rods 11. As the cylinder 63 is exposed to vacuum by the opening of the valve 56 its piston will be pulled downward and thus the bulb lifter will be raised by the cable 65 into its inclined feeding posltion. As the bulb lifter rises it lifts with it into the raised position all the bulbs 7 that are between the two parallel clamp rods 11 and are in the row of holes of the upper bulb tray. The upward movement of the bulb lifter brings it into the feeding position, where clamp rods 11 form an extension of the chute 15, so that the bulbs 7 which have been caught and lifted into the raised position then automatically slide along into the chute 15 by gravity. The inclination of the chute and of the bulb lifter in its feedin position and the speed at which the bulb li er moves into its raised position, are so chosen that the bulbs will not start to slide down until the bulb lifter has completed its upward movement. When the. machine is started the chute 15 is filled by hand with enough bulbs 7 so that each row of bulbs that is lifted can move ahead at first only a distance corresponding to the space occupied by three to four bulbs,

to prevent the lifted bulbs being damaged by sliding to the lower end of an empty chute 15. In other words, six to seven bulbs remain in the raised bulb lifter after it reaches feeding position. However, the valve 56 (Fig. 3) remains open sufficiently long to keep the bulb lifter in the raised position during six or seven movements of the releasing or rocking beam 28 of the bulb delivery device, so that little by little the bulb lifter is emptied as the bulbs that are still in it move ahead one by one. As soon as the bulb lifter is empty, the valve 56 is closed, and the bulb lifter descends by its own weight plus the weight 69. The next row of bulbs is nowcaught from the upper bulb tray, which in the meantime has been displaced sidewise by the tray engaging hook 14. The bulb lift-er remains in the low position for a time suflicient for three to four bulbs to be delivered individually by the rocking beam 28. The rod 8 of the bulb lifter ,is bent upward adjacent the pivot 70 at the end 71 to clear the bulbs in the upper portion of the chute 15 and avoid damage to them as the bulb lifter is lowered. j

After the uppermost bulb tray 6 has been shifted transversely five times, and consequently fifty bulbs have been delivered individually to the sealing-machine, the chain conveyors of the tray holder are set in motion to lift the empty tray 6 a distance corresponding to the spacing between the trays in order that the next lower tray shall come into the uppermost position. This movement of the chain conveyors is produced by a ratchet wheel 72 mounted on the tray holder frame 1 (Figs. 2 and 3) and moved ahead one tooth at a time by a pawl 73 on the piston rod 60 of the cylinder 59 which actuates the tray shifting mechanism. The ratchet wheel moves one tooth for each crosswise displacement on the shaft 7 4. The ratchet wheel 72 has five teeth and is mountedon a shaft 7 4: with a cam 75 which causes a valve 76 to open at each complete revolution of the ratchet wheel 72. The valve 76 is connected by a pipe 77 to the vacuum pump 21 and by a pipe 78 to a cylinder 79 with a piston rod 80. A cable 82 running over a pulley 81 is fastened to the piston rod of the cylinder 79 and is held down by a weight 83. The pulley 81 is mounted on the shaft 74 and rotates the latter in one direction only through a ratchet clutch 85 (Fig. 2). Bevel gears 86 on the shaft 84 are in mesh with bevel gears 87 on the two upper chain conveyor shafts 4. When the valve 76 is opened by the cam 75 the piston rod is pulled into the cylinder 79 and wheels 81, 86 and 87 are turned, moving the chain conveyors 2 and the bulb carrying racks 6 on these conveyors upward a distance corresponding to the spacing between the bulb-carrying racks. Closing of the valve 77 permits the piston rod 80 to be returned to its high position by the weight 83, the pulley 81 rotating freely on the shaft 84 without moving the conveyors 2 during the return of the piston.

Since the first longitudinal row of bulbs in each bulb tray that moves into the working position is located immediately in the plane of swing of the bulb lifter, four horizontal sidewise shifts of the bulb tray are suificient to bring its last row of bulbs into position below the bulb lifter. During these four shifts the bulb tray moves step by step more and more off its support or crossbars 5 on the conveyors, but the bulb tray 6 cannot tilt off the conveyors because at the height of the upper crossbars 5 and in front of them are auxiliary rails 88 which give further support to the bulb trays that are pushed out of the tray holder. The fifth horizontal shift of the uppermost bulb tray serves to automatically 'throw out the empty bulb tray and to transfer it to a receptacle or basket '89 beside the tray holder 1, because after the fifth horizontal shift is completed, the tray 6 is pushed so far basket. The tray engaging hook 14 does not obstruct this tilting olf or ejection of the empty bulb tray, because at the outer end of its travel it is unhooked from the bulb tray by encountering the stop 61. Shortly after the fifth operation of the tray engaging hook 14 and the ejection of the empty bulb-tray the chain conveyors are set in motion so that the next lower bulb tray is moved into the uppermost or working position. When this is done the tray engaging hook 14 goes back into po- 15 sition to be ready for the first transverse shifting of the new bulb tray.

All the attendance necessary in the operation of this novel bulb feeder is the placing of a number of filled bulb trays in the tray holder on the chain conveyors at certain rather long time intervals. In order to render individual parts of the feeder inoperative shuft-off cocks 90, 91, 92, 93 (Fig. 1) are placed in vacuum line of each operating piston. The parts of the mechanism can also be operated mechanically instead of pneumatically.

What we claim as new and desire to secure 40 holder from a position adjacent said traytoa feeding position in which it automatically feeds the bulbs in it to the upper end of said bulb delivery chute, and actuating mechanism for moving said bulb lifter vertically and actuating said delivery device in synchronism.

2. In a feeder for bulbs and similar arti-' oles, the combination with a tray holder for holding in a predetermined horizontal position a tray with parallel rows of holes, a bulb lifter for holding a row of bulbs loosely and mounted to move vertically in registry with a row of holes in the tray in said holder from a horizontal position adjacent said tray to 5 an inclined position in which the bulbs slide lengthwise of said bulb lifter by gravity, an-

inclined bulb delivery chute mounted to bring its high end into registry with the low end of said bulb lifter in the inclined position, a bulb delivery device at the lower endof said chute for discharging bulbs from said chute one by one, and actuating mechanism for moving said' bulb lifter vertically and actuating said delivery device in synchronism.

3. In a feeder for bulbs and similar articles, the combination with a stationary inclined bulb delivery-chute and a bulb delivery device at the lower end of said chute for discharging bulbs from said chute one by one, of a tray holder for holding in a predeter-' o mined horizontal position trays with parallel rows of holes, and comprising two parallel conveyors movable' vertically and spaced apart to hold said trays between them, driving means for intermittently moving said conveyors to bring the trays in said holder to the top of said holder successively, a bulb lifter for holding a row of bulbs loosely and mounted to move in the plane of a row of holes in the upper tray in said holder from a position adjacent said upper tray to a feed ing position in which it automatically feeds the bulbs in it to the upper end of said bulb delivery chute, and actuatingmechanism for moving said bulb lifter vertically and actuating said delivery device in synchronis'm.

4. In a bulb feeder the combination of'a tray holder for holding a tray with parallel rows of holes to permit bodily movement of said'tray transversely of said rows, a tray shifting member mounted to oscillate transversely of the rows of a tray in said holder, a tray engaging hook on said member, a bulb lifter movable in the plane of one of the rows of holes-in said tray to lift the bulbs in said holes out of said tray, and common driving mechanism for alternately moving said bulb lifter and oscillating said tray shifting member to shift the tray in said holder bodily a distance equal to the distance between the rows of holes in the tray.

5. In a feeder for bulbs and similar articles, the combination with a tray holder for holding in a predetermined horizontal position a tray with parallel rows of holes, of a bulb lifter comprising a, rod pivoted at one end to swing in the plane of a row of holes in the tray in said holder from a position adj a.- cent said tray to a feeding position remote from the tray, two pairs of resilient fingers pivoted on said rod at widely separated points to swing in parallel planes transversely of said rod, two clamp rods carried on the free ends of said fingers to lie parallel to said pivoted rod, and normally separated a distance slightly greater than the diameter of the neck of the bulbs to be lifted, and actuating means for moving-said bulb lifter to:

ward said tray to bring said clamp rods upon the neck of the bulbs in a row of holes inthe tray and for moving said bulb lifter away from said tray to lift said bulbs.

6. In a feeder for bulbs and similar articles, the combination with a tray holder for holding in a predetermined horizontal position a tray with parallel rows of holes, of a bulb I lifter for holding a row of bulbs loosely comprising a rod pivoted to swing vertically in registry with a row of holes in the tray in said holder from a position adjacent said tray to a feeding position remote from said tray, and resiliently mounted bulb clamping rods on said rod, a bracket having a guide groove for the free end of said rod, and pressure operated actuating means connected to said free end of said rod to move it along said guide groove away from said tray into its feeding position.

7. In a bulb feeder for sealing-in machines the combination with an inclined bulb chute with its lower end positioned to deliver a bulb to the sealing-in machine, of a bulb delivery device comprising a rocking beam pivoted adjacent the lower end of said chute to swing in a plane parallel to the longitudinal axis of said chute and having projections on oppo site ends to extend into said chute with a space between them greater than that occupied by one bulb but less than that occupied bytwo bulbs, and driving mechanism for rocking said beam to deliver one bulb at a time from the chute to the seal-in machine.

8. The combination with a sealing-in machine having heads mounted to move bodily step by step and bulb clamping jaws on each of said heads biased to close and clamp a bulb in place in said head, of an inclined bulb chute with its lower end adjacent the path of said heads, a bulb delivering device at the lower end of said chute comprising a rocking beam pivoted adjacent the lower end of said chute to swing in the plane parallel to the longitudinal axis of said chute and having two bulb delivery fingers extending into said chute to release the lowermost bulb only and restrain the other bulbs when said beam is in bulb release position, means responsive to movement of saidbeam into bulb release position for opening said bulb clamping jaws on the head in registry with said chute, and driving mechanism for moving said heads step by step and rocking said beam while a head is in registry with said chute to deliver one bulb from the chute to said head.

9. In a feeder for bulbs and similar articles, the combination of a stationary inclined bulb delivery chute and a bulb delivery device at the lower end of said chute for discharging bulbs from said chute one by one and comprising a rocking beam cooperating with said chute and driving mechanism for rocking said beam, a tray holder for holding a tray with parallel rows of holes in a predetermined horizontal position, and free to move bodily transversely of said rows, an oscillatable tray shifting member which shifts said tray transversely the distance between said rows for each oscillation, a bulb lifter for holding 'a row of bulbs loosely and mounted to move in the plane of a row of holes in the tray in said holder from a position adjacent said tray to a feeding position in which it automatically feeds the bulbs in it to the upper end of said bulb delivery chute, fluid pressure mechanism for moving said bulb lifter vertically and for oscillating said tray shifting member, control means for said fluid pressure mechanisms comprising a control cam for each of said mechanisms, and connections whereby said driving mechanism for said bulb delivery device rotates said cams in definite time relation to said bulb delivery device and to each other to actuate said bulb lifter and said tray shifting member in sequence.

10. In a feeder for bulbs and similar articles, the combination of a vertically movable conveyor for holding horizontally and one above the other a plurality of trays having parallel rows of holes and permitting bodily movement of said trays sidewise and trans versely of said rows, a tray shifting member mounted to oscillate in operative relation to the uppermost tray and to move it sidewise the distance between said rows of holes at each oscillation, driving means for oscillat ing said shifting member, a fluid pressure motor for moving said conveyor step by step in steps equal to the distance between trays and motor control means comprising a supply valve for said motor, a control cam for said valve, a ratchet wheel for driving said cam and having teeth corresponding in number to the rows of holes in a'tray, and connections between said driving means and said ratchet wheel to actuate it step by step and thereby bring said cam into valve opening position in response to said number of oscillations of said tray shifting member.

11. In a feederfor bulbs and similar articles, the combination of a vertically movable conveyor for holding horizontally and one above the other a plurality of trays having parallel rows of holes and permitting bodily movement of said trays sidewise and'transversely of said rows, a tray shifting member mounted to oscillate in operative relation to the uppermost tray and to move it sidewise the distance between said rows of holes at each oscillation, and driving means which oscillate said shifting member often enough to complete the transverse travel of the uppermost tray and then moves said conveyor vertically to bring the next tray into the uppermost position, a tray receptacle mounted beside said tray holder in position to receive the uppermost tray upon completion of its transverse travel.

1 12. In a feeder for bulbs and similar articles, the combination of a vertically movable conveyor for holding horizontally and one above the other a plurality of trays having parallel rows of holes, and permitting bodily movement of said trays sidewise and transversely of said rows, a tray shifting member mounted to oscillate in operative relation to the uppermost tray and to move it sidewise the distance between said rows of holes at each oscillation, driving means for oscillating said shifting member, tray supporting rails mounted horizontally in registry with I andto one side of the uppermost tray in said holder to receive and support the tray delivered sidewise from said holder and thereby prevent it tipping until the completion of its transverse movement, and common driving means for said shifting member and said conveyor.

13. In a bulb'feeder for bulbs and similar articles the combination of an inclined delivery chute having at its lower end a bulb delivery device for delivering when actuated one bulb to the head in registry with said chute, a tray holder for holding horizontal a tray havingparallel rows of holes to permit said tray to shift bodily sidewise and transverse to said rows, an oscillatable tray shift- 1 ing member for shiftingisaid tray sidewise, a

bulb lifter for lifting ulbs from a row in said tray to feed them into said chute, pneumatic motors for actuating said bulb delivery device, said tray shifting member and said bulb lifter, an exhaust pump connected to all of said motors, control valves for ad mitting air to said motors to actuate them, and valve. control means for causing said motors to operate in predetermined sequence.

14:. In a bulb feeder for bulbs and similar articles, the combination of an inclined delivery chute aving at its lower end a bulb delivery device for delivering when actuated one bulb from the lower end of said chute,

g a tray holder for holding horizontal a tray having parallel rows of holes to permit said tray to'shift bodily sidewise and transverse to said rows, an oscillatable tray'shifting member for shifting said-tray sidewise, a bulb lifter for lifting bulbs from a row in said tray to feed them into said chute, and

common driving mean for actuating said bulb delivery device, sa1d tray shiftin member, and said bulb lifter in predetermlned sequence to feed to said chute successively the rows of bulbs in the tray, and deliver only one bulb at a time from the lower end of said chute;

WALTHER-WINFRIED LOEBE.

WILLY LEDIG. HEINRICH ASMUSSEN. 

